在国外过渡Magazine May/June 2005 Vol. XXVIII, NO. 6

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While many of our readers are multilingual and use their language skills for traveling, working, and living abroad, Americans generally are far behind the rest of the developed world in foreign language proficiency. According to the Census Bureau, only 9.3 percent of Americans speak both their native language and another language fluently, compared with 52.7 percent of Europeans. Enrollment in foreign language classes at American universities has fallen from 16 percent in 1960 to 8 percent in 2002, according to the American Council on Education. The average number of languages spoken by American business executives is 1.4, compared with an average of 3.9 by business executives in The Netherlands, according to a 2002 survey from Healthy Companies International.

Monolinguism is not just inconvenient; it can be deadly. After September 11 the Justice Department reported a backlog of untranslated documents and recordings that might have prevented the terrorist attacks had there been more qualified linguists in the U.S. And a March 7, 2005 U.S. News & World Report article, entitled "When Banter Beats Bullets," says that American officers in Iraq are finding that while they were trained on infantry tactics and on leading soldiers into battle, they were not prepared for the crucial challenge of human interaction.

美国外语教学理事会（ACTFL），www.actfl.org，通过促进外语学习的利益和重要性，开发了一项运动，以打击美国的单语言。ACTFL的成员（包括教师，教育工作者和语言专业人士）会对教育领导者与政策制定者之间的对话进行对话，并支持美国语言学习的研究

Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) supported the ACTFL in calling public attention to our nation’s “language deficit.” They helped to sponsor a resolution making 2005 “The Year of Languages in the United States.” Government, business, and higher education leaders nationwide are now working together to host community and national events each month—such as teleconferences, panel discussions, and language festivals.

在国外过渡celebratesThe Year of Languageswith an extended Language Immersion resource section to complement the many language program participant reports published annually in the May/June issue. Compiling this section is Edward Trimnell, author of Why You Need a Foreign Language and How to Learn One. You can read our interview with Edward about the advantages of learning other languages.

本期的语言沉浸式文章涵盖了国内中文，克罗地亚，法语，希伯来语，意大利语和西班牙语研究，以及为初学者提供高级外语学习者的许多技巧。这个特殊的部分的作家提醒我们，学习语言的重要性 - 国家安全，经济增长和全球相互依存的意义 - 最终是关于为另一种文化打开大门并直接与其人民建立联系。

即使为期一个月的课程或为期一周的语言假期也可以让您深入了解另一种生活方式 - 更不用说在业务上有潜在的腿或降落国际工作（例如自由翻译）的技能（请参阅TeganCathleen Raleigh的文章）。

We are lucky to have native speakers of other languages on staff. Our new designer, Nashima Gokani, hails from The Netherlands, and our office manager, Claudia Ricci Hansen, is from Brazil. I’ve already learned at least enough to sign off with “Tot later” or “Até logo.”

—雪莉·施瓦茨（Sherry Schwarz）